Market Report – Asian Autos Gain

In today’s market report… shares of Asian automakers are up, helping to lead regional stock markets higher for a fourth straight session.

Beleaguered Toyota Motor rose after a fall in February U.S. sales of 9 percent was not as bad as feared, leading Japan’s Nikkei higher.

Still, documents examined by Congress Tuesday showing Toyota’s top U.S. executives warning in 2006 that its car quality was slipping could be more bad news.

South Korean automakers also gained on the back of strong sales data, supporting Seoul’s KOSPI index.

Shares of Taiwan smartphone maker HTC fell after Apple filed a lawsuit, accusing it of infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone.

Apple’s suit seeks to prevent HTC, which makes Google’s Nexus One smartphone, from selling, marketing or distributing infringing products in the U.S.

The euro, meanwhile, edged back from 10-month lows on hopes Greece would soon announce new austerity measures and win EU financial support.

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